Boring Afternoon

Both Paula and Daniel came home early today. This was not as fun as it sounds. Daniel just sat at his computer, working from home. Paula just slept. We don’t know why Paula was so tired that she slept all afternoon, but it was boring. 

I wish tomorrow will be a better day. It probably will be. 

Better Legs

Morran, our dear Affenpinscher friend, did not feel well yesterday. She almost dragged her hind legs with her, or so it looked like.

This was much better today. She could walk freely today, the way she usually does. Her legs were better.

Morran, of course, did not accept the proposition that she felt less than well yesterday. She does not accept that anyone would feel sorry for her. She says she always feels fine. This is one of the things I like about Morran, she will not accept pity. I did tell her I hope she will continue to feel as well as always. This, she thanked me for. 

No Dogs or Cats

The United States of America has got a new Head of State, President Donald John Trump. 

Donald Trump has no dogs. Neither does he have cats. We think this is a shame. Humans feel better with dogs, or at least cats, as companions. The US President is often called the most powerful human in the world. The responsibilities that come with this job should be an easier burden, if he had dogs, or at least cats. 

Well, it is up to Donald Trump and his family to decide for themselves whether to have dogs or not. We still believe they would feel better if they did. 

Nap

Sunday is the day of rest, but perhaps not as much as it turned out to be this afternoon. Paula and Daniel sat on the bed, talking a little and reading the news. Then they both fell asleep. 

Dogs are used to taking a nap or two in the middle of the day. Humans are not. While both Paula and Daniel admitted they had enjoyed their nap, you could hear they were a little surprised and even annoyed that this had happened. We dogs do not think they should be annoyed. There is nothing wrong with a nap on your day off. 

Another Saturday

Saturdays are probably my favourite days of the week. We get up as early as usual to go out for a while, but then we all go back to bed. Even Daniel go back to bed, who usually gets up early to go to the office. On weekdays, Paula stays in bed for a little while longer than Daniel but then she also gets up. On Saturdays, we can all go back to rest and sleep for a long time. We also know next day is Sunday, when the same thing may happen. Life is great these Saturday mornings. 

Floods in Brazil

Heavy rain has caused floods in the south of Brazil. Towns have been flooded, but people help. In this short movie sequence, you can see that dogs are carried across the water. This is nice, in all the tragedy. 

We hope that the floods will soon be over, and that dogs and humans get the help they need. 

Going Shopping

As som as Daniel came home tonight, he and Paula went grocery shopping. 

When they came back home, they brought grilled chicken. Paula served some of the chicken to us dogs.

Totte the cat has always loved chicken. I totally understand him. Chicken gives such a tasty meat. We loved the chicken meat we got today. 

Board Meeting

We had a dull evening today. Both Paula and Daniel were at home, but did not spend any time with us dogs. Paula did not feel well and was just resting. Daniel went on line top participate in a board meeting. This was a board meeting with the regional kennel club, where he is a member of the board. This is important, so he may be excused. Paula could not help that she did not feel well, so she is also excused. It was still a dull evening for us dogs. We are lucky most evenings are more eventful. 

Thaw

It has been a warm day for January. It was about +5° and the snow was thawing. Water was dripping from the roofs and trees. 

While we do like spring and summer, it is too early to get spring now. There is enough time for winter for a couple of months more. We hope winter will stay for a while. 

Sausages

We got sausages in our food today. Sausages are good food.

You can go on and on about the advantages of modern human invention. Sausages are made on old knowledge. It is still one of the greatest human inventions. It takes care of pieces of the animal you do not eat as they are, season it and package it, which makes for very tasty dishes. It is also environmentally friendly, because through sausages, more of the animals come to use.

We wish we could have sausage more often. 

Brush Up

Paula and Daniel, who are both authorised to work as ring stewards, went away today to a Brush Up course for ring stewards. This is a kind of course they have to take every other year to keep their authorisation.

The best thing about this was that they got some left over food back home, and gave us dogs cheese. Cheese is always great food. 

Away for the Evening

Daniel went away in the afternoon. He did not come home until it was almost midnight. Apparently, he was away celebrating something in Arboga, a neighbour town. 

Paula was at home with us. We had a nice evening. We are even sure our evening was nicer than Daniel's.

We dogs do not have to go away for parties. Our life at home is fun enough.

A Controlled Fire

We had a controlled fire at home this morning. Daniel lit a fire in the stove in our livingroom. A controlled fire like this makes life very cozy.

Malin the cat lied down in front of the stove, enjoying the warmth, for a long time. I can understand why she did this. I was a little too restless to do this myself, though. 

We would want controlled fires more often.

Fire to the North West

A huge fire is raging in Los Angeles in the south of California. This is just a little to the north west of Chihuahua, the land where my dog breed comes from. 

We hope dogs are saved, just as humans are. I don’t know how many Chihuahuas live in Los Angeles, but it is not far from Chihuahua and it is a popular dog breed around the world. We feel for all dogs affected by the fire. 

Overslept

It is hard to go back to work after several days of spare time. While Daniel went away to the office this morning, Morran, Pepe, and I overslept. 

It feels nice to sleep for a long time in the morning. Once you wake up, and realise you have overslept and not fulfilled your duties, you get disappointed with yourself. How can we watch the house, if we are all asleep? 

A good thing is that nothing happened. Our guard dog duty must have a fearful reputation among the bad people of society, they never dare to come here. In a way, thus, we fulfilled our duty as guard dogs anyway, through our reputation. This is good. 

A Lot of Snow

We got a lot of snow this morning. When we got out in the early morning, there was a decimetre of new snow on the ground. 

Daniel and Totte spent a few hours shoveling the snow away from the drive way. Totte gave up before they were finished, so Daniel had to do the rest himself. It was nice that I did not have to help. 

The snow started to thaw in the afternoon. It was still so much, that the work put in by Daniel and Totte was not in vain. 

Three Wise Men

This is the Thirteenth Day of Christmas, Epiphany. This is when we celebrate that some wise men came to the newborn Jesus, considered Him a King, and gave him three gifts.

Tradition has it, there were three wise men, each with one gift. Tradition also says these were called Casper, Melchior, and Baltazar. Their names and the number of men are not mentioned in the Bible, however. We guess traditional knowledge like this is fun to know, but may be untrue. Nevertheless, the basis of the story of the Wise Men is written down in the Bible.

Every reason to celebrate is a good reason. Happy Epiphany! 

A Cat In the Way

This evening, Malin the cat occupied Daniel. She was Petter by him for a long time. None of us dogs could get in their way. Morran was rather annoyed, she thought Malin got in her way.

The cats usually leve it to us dogs to have this kind of close relationship to our humans. I think we should let them be, however, in the few instances when they want to be close. We are all friends. 

Pepe Did Not Want Ham

Daniel gave us some ham at lunch time today. Morran and I loved it and ate our ham quickly. Pepe did not want any, however. 

While Morran and I were happy to share the ham that Pepe did not want, I could not help but wonder why he did not want any. He is usually as fond of good food as any other dog. I asked him, but he just said he did not feel like it at the time. This was a strange answer, but I guess we have to accept it. Nobody wants to force Pepe to eat tasty food. 

We will have to see what Pepe does, the next time we are offered treats. 

Real Winter

We had some cold days in early December. Then there were many days with temperatures high above the freezing point, for being December. On the New Year Night, snow fell and we got temperatures well below the freezing point. It was like the new year came with winter. It is still winter. I like spring better, but I guess spring is far away. We just have to live through another cold winter. 

A New Year

It is a new year, and we can start anew in some ways. New year resolutions are often made to make improvements in the way we live our lives. Morran, Pepe, and I discussed this. None of us could come up with any good new year resolution, however. We all think we already live good and harmonious lives. What is there to improve? We all wish you, as reader of this blog, a happy New Year, though. 

Christmas Ham

 One of the great Swedish Christmas traditions is Christmas Ham. You cook ham, then you coat it with mustard and egg and fry it in the oven for a quarter of an hour. This will give you Christmas Ham. There is nothing more tasty than Christmas Ham. Give this to all of your friends who are vegans, and I am sure they cannot stay vegans. It is that tasty.

Just eat it. 

Please Refrain from Crackers

In old times, humans fired crackers by New Year to scare evil beings away. I do not know how many of the humans back then really believed in these evil demons and such. What I do know is that no humans claim to believe in them nowadays. Still, many people fire crackers and fireworks. Science have revealed more and more, how harmful these exploding noise is to animals – pets, livestock, and wildlife alike. If you are not supersticious, if you do not believe in demons who can be scared away by crackers, please refrain from using crackers and fireworks for New Year. 

Humans Try to Understand Wolves

A scientific study in Finland has developed human knowledge of why wolves attack dogs. According to the study, this is because the wolves see the dogs as trespassers in their territory.

Wolves mostly attack hunting dogs who hunt with their humans on land where the humans have the right to hunt, with respect to other humans. Wolves do not care about human landownership.

The study is yet another example of human science establishing what wolves, dogs, and many humans already know. 

Cleaning Out Stuff

We cleaned out some old stuff today, such as broken lamps and plates. Paula and Daniel went away to the city dump with it. While it was not much, it feels like we have made more room for ourselves here at home. Cleaning out old stuff can really be a good thing. 

Sports

It is the Second Day of Christmas (often called Boxing Day in English), and many humans watch sports. They can do it on TV or live on site. Paula and Daniel did not, though. They do not follow football or bandy of this kind to such a great extent. If there are international tournaments, like the Football World Cup, it is another matter. I understatement this, it is not very interesting to know who will be the winners of an English football league. 

Christmas Celebrations

Paula and Daniel visiter Paula’s sitter today, to celebrate Christmas with Paula’s sitter, parents, nephew, and niece. Pepe went with them.

Apparently, Paula’s nephew and niece had specifically asked that Pepe would come, so he accepted to do this. Afterwards, he told me he had had fun, but that he could just as easily have stayed at home with Morran and me. 

We all got some Christmas food in the evening. This was great. 

Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a merry Christmas!

We were so busy Christmas Eve, that I did not write any blog entry. It may be two now on Christmas Day instead. Stay tuned! 

The Day Before Christmas

It is the day before Christmas – at least in Sweden. Christmas starts at Christmas Eve in Sweden. This is good. We do not have to wait until Christmas Day, as in some other countries. We have Christmas tomorrow. This is good, it means we get to start eat Christmas food.

Actually, we had some Christmas food to eat today. We cooked some of it, so we had to taste it, to see if it was good enough. It turned out it was. 

Evil Acts

The Russians are killing Ukrainan prisoners of war. This is evil acts. It goes against the laws of war. We would consider it murder.

We hope no Ukranian military dogs are murdered this way. 

Cleaning Out the Fridge

We cleaned out the fridge today. This gives us more space to fit in new groceries for Christmas. Cleaning can be good. 

Christmas is a good holiday, because it means a lot of candy and good food. We love to celebrate the birth of Christ this way. 

Christmas Gifts

Paula and Daniel bought their final Christmas gifts today. It is good that they are done with this.

We dogs finished our Christmas preparations long ago. It might be that humans should follow our lead to a more laid back approach to Christmas. 

Brush Up

On the 12 January, our local kennel club will have a brush up for ring stewards. This is to make sure all the ring stewards are up to date with new rules and regulations for dog shows.

Daniel published the invitation to the brush up today. Several ring stewards have already told him they want to come. This is promising. We hope the brush up will be a success. 

A Nice Visit

A visit to a veterinarian can be really comfortable. I came long to a veterinarian today, because Polly’s granddaughter Honey had an appointment. The veterinarian dig not do anything to me.

If Honey would have lived with us, this blog would belong to her. She would have inherited it from her grandmother Polly. I am just a custodian of it. This made it extra exciting to meet Honey. She was not very interested in discussing the blog, however. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because she would have wanted to have the blog, but this may be wishful thinking on my part.

Anyway, the veterinarian appointment turned out fine. Honey is perfectly healthy. This is good. 

Chips

Paula and Daniel had chips with their dinner tonight. I got some of the softer ones. While I don’t normally like potatoes, I liked these chips. 

Daniel told us chips are called French fries in America, while crisps are called chips there. I guess Swedish has borrowed the American word. Then Daniel told us that in Australia, both crisps and chips are called chips. This seems like it could cause confusion. I an glad we do not have to think of such confusing things in the British English we use in Europe, nor in Swedish or American English.

First Time

Paula worked as a ring steward at an official dog show for the first time today. This was just the day after she was finished.

We wonder if this is some kind of record. It usually takes time to send the signed protocoll of trainee services to the tutor of the theory course, who will then sign it and send it to people at the headquarters of the Swedish Kennel Club. In this case, the dog show this weekend was managed by the Swedish Kennel Club itself. The tutor and all of the relevant people from the headquarters were there, so the protocoll could be signed and registered at once, and Paula could be authorised. 

This is great. We may have a record holder here at home. 

Finished!

Paula made the final trainee work in order to become a ring steward today. We are very proud of her for making it. We celebrated a little this evening. 

Now Paula and Daniel can work together as ring stewards at dog shows. We will have to see when this happens. 

Lost in Plain Sight

Paula thought she had an important document in the entrance hall. It wasn’t there. She then thought she had moved it to a secure place, but could not remember where this would be. A little later, Totte pointed out that some documents of the kind lied on the kitchen table. It turned out that the important document was there, in plain sight. Well, I have also lost important things which I have later found lying around in plain sight. I wonder if the item can really be lost this way. 

Early and Late

Paula came home early from work today. This is always a thing to be happy about. We don’t have to watch the house as intensely, when we have a human at home.

Daniel came home later than he was supposed to. He had had a lot of work to do at the office, he said. We were happy that he came home, but he could have come home earlier, in our minds. 

Daniel

It is the name day of Daniel today.

Humans often have name days, while this is not very common for dogs. As long as we can celebrate anyway, I do not really care.

We got treats as part of the celebration of Daniel’s name day. This was great. 

Nobel Prizes

Humans are intelligent. Just like dogs, some humans are more intelligent than others. Many really intelligent humans become scientists. The most successful scientists can be awarded with a Nobel prize for a discovery. The winners for this year got their prizes today. 

If I were a human, I might have been a scientist. They seem to have interesting things to do. 

Meatballs

We got some meatballs today. 

Meatballs are tasty and healthy food. 

Rumour has it, wild meatballs are fierce animals, whom only dogs (and our wild cousins, the wolves) can hunt down and prey upon. I’d like to think this is true. 

Second Sunday in Advent

It is the second Sunday in Advent. Christmas is getting closer. Paula and Daniel have been away to do some Christmas shopping. They are not planning as well as us dogs, all of our Christmas preparations are taken care of already. We just wait and look forward to Christmas. 

Dachshund Is Tax in Swedish

The dog breed which is called Dachshund in the original German language and in English, is called tax in Swedish. (This has got nothing to do with the English word tax.) It is a little painful to see an advertisement where the copywriters do not know this. In order to protect the integrity of the makers of the advertisement, I have cropped the advertisement, so the company which sells the product cannot be seen.

New Device

Daniel has an Ipad which he uses for his work as a politician for the town where we live. His Ipad was damaged in an accident a few weeks ago, which is why he got a new Ipad yesterday. As always, when a new device is used, it needs to be configured and software needs to be added. There are a lot of passwords to be used here and there. I often borrow this Ipad to write my blog entries. I have also had to log in and and passwords. It is frustrating. This is all because there are so many humans whom you cannot trust, so you need a lot of long and complicated passwords. I have been able to log in to the blog account now, however. It wasn’t easy, but it is done now. Life is good again. 

Finland

It is the national holiday of Finland. We congratulate all Finnish dogs and humans. It is also cause for us to celebrate the sovereignty of our neighbour.

Veteran and Pup

Paula read a heart warming story today. A former soldier in America, who had been injuried in his military service, had wanted to buy a pup. The seller did not want to accept the money offered, though, but gave him the pup as a thanks for his service. Apparently, the pup and the former soldier got a good life together. This was a really nice story to hear of.

Christmas Dinner

Paula and Daniel went away tonight, to go to a Christmas dinner. They came back home satisfied and happy.

I wish I could have come along. A lot of Christmas food is great, such as meatballs, sausages, and ribs. I think I would have made a success, too. People actually do use to think I am rather cute. 

They Don’t Bother

There are times when I ask Morran or Pepe if they want to write any blog entry. Most of the time, none of them want to. I just have to write all of the blog entries myself.

On one paw, I can get tired of writing in this blog every day. On the other paw, it is nice to rule over the blog myself. When everything comes around, this outweighs the downside. Then it does not count very much that they don’t bother. 

Lights in the Dark

It is the darkest time of the year, just a few weeks are left to the winter solstice. This is when Paula and Daniel puts up lights here at home, that can stay on throughout the night.

These lights are a way to celebrate Advent and the upcoming Christmas, and it is a way to make these dark weeks brighter. I like it. 

Runaway Dog

Paula and Daniel went to do some errands this afternoon. On the way home, they heard a dog barking outside the car. It was a dog who ran after their car, until they stopped. They both went out of the car, and the dog came up to Paula, greeting her. Paula calmed the dog down. Then another human came running, a human of the same family as the dog. It was a good thing Paula could stop the dog, to help the dog come back to the family. 

Coming Home Early

Daniel came home early from work this afternoon. We were happy to see him, but only for a while. He did not even remove his coat, then Paula and he went away. They came back home a couple of hours later. 

So much for coming home early. Isn’t the point of going home early from work, that you can spend more time at home, with your dogs? 

Tagliatelle for Totte

Paula cooked tagliatelle today. Some of the tagliatelle and a bit of ground cheese found its way to a plate on the floor for us dogs. None of us were very hungry, though. Funnily enough, our cat Totte came by and started to eat tagliatelle. He really enjoyed it, as opposed to us dogs. Totte is usually much more picky with his choice of food. Tagliatelle with some cheese was a hit, nevertheless. I liked that he enjoyed it. 

Under the Zink

Totte likes to go in under the zink. Apparently, he has found mice there, whom he has evicted. These mice were squatters, living in our house without our consent and without paying rent.

It is good that Totte takes his responsibility as a family cat to protect our house against mouse squatters. This is one way he contributes to the over all welfare of our family. Cats have their advantages. 

We do not know whether there are any mice under the zink now. Totte says it is thanks to him. We thank him for this. 

Rain

We have warmer weather again. It rained today. If we wouldhave had temperatures like last week, we would have had snow now. I guess we have to wait for snow for a while. It is your average November, with grey days, that feel cold because they are damp. There are many weeks left for Christmas. Nobody can say whether we get a white Christmas or not. We just have to wait and see. The cold rain is still not a good thing. 

Candles of Remembrance

We visited a cemetery tonight and lit a pair of candles. One of them was for the dogs who are no longer with us, the other for the humans who are no longer with us. Among the dogs, there are Polly, Laila, Viola, and others. Among the humans, there are Daniel’s father and the grandparents of both Paula and Daniel. 

We do not always think of the ones we have lost. They always have a place in our hearts, though. 

Pepe Came Home

When Daniel came home this afternoon, he brought Pepe. Pepe has been away for more than a week.

It was so nice to see Pepe. I have missed his company. Morran is also a good friend, and the cats Malin and Totte are friends, but there are things I can do with Pepe which only we can do. Now it may be time for those things again. This is good.

Wood

Daniel went away for a while this morning. Before he did, he fetched more wood to the fire place. This was good, it made it easier for Paula to keep the fire going, thus, adding to the warmth indoors.

The weather forecast says it might get significantly warmer outdoors soon. I hope so, I like warm weather. My coat does keep me warm, but not as efficiently as warm weather does. 

Winter Is Here

We do not have any snow on the ground yet. It is winter, nevertheless. This morning, we had -8⁰ outside. We are lucky we have a warm house to stay in. Once in a while, we go out for a while, but we keep it short. It is cozy indoors.

Meatballs

We got Somme meatballs tonight, while Paula and Daniel were cooking dinner.

Meatballs are always great prey and great food. 

Morran got more meatballs than I did. This was a little disappointing, but I can still understand it. Morran is bigger than I am, so we got about the same amount of meatballs per kilogramme of body. 

Narva

On this day in the year 1700, Sweden won a huge military victory at Narva versus Russia. Narva was Swedish at the time, near the border to Russia. It is now in Estonia, near the border to Russia.

One would hope Ukraine would win an equally huge military battle versus Russia in the current war. 

Uncharged

Paula struggles with her mobile telephone. The battery is empty. She tries to get it to charge, but we have some chargers that does not work. Life is hard, when you want to use your mobile device, but can't.

All of us dogs and cats make sure our mobile devices are charged.

Colder Weather

It is getting colder now. We had freezing temperatures this evening, which is a first for this season. We have only had this in the mornings before, this autumn. It is clear winter is coming. 

Rumour has it, we might get snow later this week. The good thing about snow is that it makes the dark times of the year brighter. Some snow on the roof also helps isolate the house. If snow comes, we hope it will stay for a while, but we will have to see what happens. 

Unfortunate Coincidences

At a horse race in Cheltenham, Great Britain, three horses died. Two of the horses died of cardio-vascular causes, the grounds of which is still to be determined. Another horse sustained fatal injuries after falling at a fence.

It is sad to read about this. It isimportant to note, nevertheless, that none of the fatalities had the same cause. The fact that there were three deaths at the same race was just due to unfortunate coincidences. Race horses are treated well and get regular veterinary care. Horse races can go on, despite these unfortunate fatalities. 

Almost a Full Moon

There was a full Moon yesterday. The overcast sky prevented us from seeing it. This evening, we have a clear sky and a fine view of the almost full Moon. 

Nights with a clear sky heralds a cold morning the next day. We are prepared for this. There is heat in the radiators and wood to be burned in the stove, if our humans want to. It will be cozy indoors tomorrow. 

Pepe Went Away

Pepe went on a holiday today. He will live with a couple of other Chihuahuas for a couple of days. 

This is not the first time Pepe is away. We miss him a little already.

I wonder what Pepe is up to. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say, when he is back. He is not much into talking about such things, however. We will have to see, when he is back.

Nothing Special

There are days when it seems like nothing special occurs. This was such a day. 

Some of the days when nothing special happens, I write blog entries about some news article or things like this. Hailey and Polly often did, when they were in charge of this blog. Once in a while, I cannot find anything interesting that I want to write about. This is such a day.

If you want to read anything new in this blog, come back tomorrow. There is probably something more interesting to read about tomorrow. 

Old Mexican City

Here is an interesting video of what an ancient Mexican city might have looked like. This city was hidden by nature, but rediscovered.

We wonder what the life of dogs were there. Perhaps there were some fore-mothers of modern Chihuahuas. 

Chicken

Paula cooked chicken for dinner today. Some of the chicken meat ended up in our food bowls. We liked this.

Chicken meat is tasty and healthy. It was also well seasoned. Life is good, when you get to eat chicken. 

Working from Home

Both Paula and Daniel worked from home today.

When Daniel does this, he just gets access to the office on line, and works on his computer from home.

It is more difficult for Paula, who works as a nurse, she usually have to be close to her patients. Today, she spent the day reading, however. She studied important documents for work. It was great that she could do this, so everyone could be at home simultaneously. It was a good day for us dogs. 

Father’s Day

This is Father’s Day in Sweden.

We hope our respective fathers are doing well, wherever they are. Not all fathers are still here on Earth.

Celebrations were had for Daniel, who has the role of father in our family. He appreciated this. We appreciate him, so this was good for all of us. 

The Name of the Blog

This blog is still called Daily Hailey. It is a daily blog. The second part of the name is the call name of the dog who started the blog. I never knew Hailey, but I knew her daughter Karstuhl, who inherited the blog and managed it until she passed away. Then I took care of the blog.

Paula asked me today why the blog is still called Daily Hailey. The answer is that it is a homage to the dog who started it, and it rhymes, so it is a good name. 

There is a risk there will never be a decendant of Hailey who can take over the blog. We might get back to this subject in the future. It may still be a blog of a dog at this home. I hope I manage to do this, at least. Stay tuned, and there will be more blog entries. 

A Little Help

We are at home with Paula this evening, while Daniel is away. Paula has a cold, so she is more tired than usual. This is of no great concern, she gets a little help from us dogs. We are good at helping our humans. She'll get by, with a little help from her friends.

Ongoing Talks

People still talk about the American presidential election, even though it took place the day before yesterday and the result was in yesterday morning, Swedish time. Politics is a human activity I will never fully comprehend. I just wish for the new administration to be positive to dogs. 

No Pastries

The 6th November is a day when Swedes commemorate the late King Gustavus II Adolphus. He was killed in action on this day in 1632. The commemoration often consist of eating Gustavus Adolphus pastries. We did not have any of those here at home though. This may be just as well, since the main part of these pastries is a chocolate portrait of the King. Chocolate is said to be poisonous to dogs. In this case, I’d rather have something healthier, like minced meat or sausage. Life is good anyway. 

The Cats

The Cats stayed outdoors last night, but came in this morning. They enjoyed getting in from the cold, they said.

I have never really understood why our cats often want to stay out for so long, even when it is cold outside. They like to hunt mice, they say, but this cannot be the full explanation. Dogs rather spend time in the warmth indoors. This is proof to me that dogs are smarter than cats. 

Coming Home

We were away for the weekend, but now we are back home again. It feels nice to be back in the comfort of our own home, sleeping in our own bed.

Paula made it through important parts of her trainee sessions to become authorised as a ring steward. At the same show, Daniel worked as a ring steward. We dogs were there to keep them company and boost their morale. We believe we did this well. Paula and Daniel were happy to have us there. It was a good trip. 

All Saints’

We commemorate the spirits of the dead today. Long live their memories. 

There are a lot of dogs we have known, who are no longer with us. Our thoughts go out to them today, more than usual. 

Rest in peace, everyone!

Winter Month

In the old days, I have been told, people did not call this month November in Sweden. They called it vintermånad, which means Winter Month. This is a little strange. It sure gets colder in this month, but I would not say it is winter. This is despite my Mexican heritage, which makes Sweden a relatively cold country. I wonder why the old Swedes called November Winter Month. 

The Feat of the Year

The Swedish Kennel Club has named the German Shepherd Otiz winner of the dog feat of the year. Otiz allerted his family at night that there was a fire. Thus, he rescued a lot of cows and calves. Allof these animals survived and the family business could go on. 

While nobody wants a fire to get out of paw, if it ever did at our place, I hope I would have the sense to wake up my family. This is not to win a prize, rather to save lives and property. Still, it would not be a bad thing to win a prize for it. 

Floods in Spain

Floods have caused many deaths and a lot of destruction in Spain. 

We are sorry to hear about this. We hope dogs have made it and have not lost their humans. 

There have certainly been floods before, but in modern times, we hear about them more often than people did years ago. We wonder if there are more or less floods now than before. 

Winter Tyres

We got the winter tyres put on the car today. It may be temperatures below zero this weekend, so it is about time.

I don’t mind going by car, but it is better when the car feels safe. When we have cold months like in the Swedish winters, it is good to have winter tyres. 

Japanese Election

The Japanese Prime Minister lost the election yesterday. His ruling Liberal Democrat Party is still the largest, but hasn’t got a majority. The opposition is divided. It remains to be seen what will happen. 

Hailey and Polly, who had this blog before me, knew much more about Japan than I do. As Shibas, of a Japanese breed, their interest came naturally. They would surely have more to say about the election. I just mention it, in their honour. 

Rain and Leaves

Daniel had planned to use the lawn mower to mulch fallen leaves in the garden. Rain stopped him from doing this. He said he needed the leaves to be dry. 

It is interesting that the things that leave the branches of the trees in the autumn are called leaves. This is probably just a coincidence, but an interesting one. 

Wrong Blog

Daniel has a blog in Swedish, where he writes mainly political thoughts. He just happened to write a blog entry in this blog, in Swedish, about politics. I erased that blog entry. 

Last Day of Daylight Saving Time

Humans have watches and clocks to keep track of the time. Since they are almost always busy with this and that, this is understandable. I cannot for the life of me understand, however, why they change the time by one hour each spring and each autumn. Tonight, they will do it again. I hope some humans like this, my humans do not. 

Not Connected

Daniel was on line up until the moment I borrowed his tablet to write the daily blog post. Just at that moment, the program objected and I got the error message the device was not connected to the net. It is strange how things like this can happen so suddenly. It only lasted for a little while, but it was enough for me to change the idea I was going to write about. Connections should be safer, I think. 

Julmust

We had the first julmust for the season. Julmust is the Christmas pop of preference for most Swedes. It is sold from October, because people love it so much. We enjoyed it, too, today. 

Some people say other brands of pop is the prefered pop for Christmas in other countries. As Swedes, we cannot understand this. How could any drink be better than julmust for Christmas? We prefer julmust. 

Just a Few Issues

Daniel is a member of the City Council. They had a meeting today. It is possible to follow the meeting on line. For some reasons, they had so long debates that they did not have time to finish more than a few issues. There were some of the other members of the council who just wanted to get up and talk over and over, even though they did not add much to the debate. There is a freedom to speak in the council, of course, but it seems like some of the members could be better at seeing when they have much to add or not. We do not envy Daniel for sitting through these meetings. It seems like he thinks they are more interesting than we do. 

Minimum Age

Paula and Daniel discussed the rules for dogs to become Show Champion today. It was not a lengthy debate. They just discussed what the minimum age to become a Show Champion. This is easy to see, if you just look it up in the Rules for Dog Shows and Championships. The dog needs to be two years old in order to become a Champion. Reading the rules is a good thing. 

Meatballs

Paula and Daniel cooked meatballs for dinner today. Some of the meatballs found their ways to us dogs. Meatballs are great food. These meatballs were better than most, because they were home made and Paula had seasoned them well. I wish we could have meatballs more often. 

Another Step

You may wonder how it went for Paula, when she made her first trainee day to become a ring steward. She did very well and was approved.

It was a Dachshund specialty. Dachshunds have complicated rules with working classes and special rules on how to become a champion. When Paula has managed to do this, the rest of the trainee days must be easier. It is good to start with the worst kind of show.

In a few weeks, Paula is on it again. We believe she will make it. 

Preparing

Paula has spent the evening preparing for a dog show tomorrow. She will take her next step towards being a ring steward, at a dachshund show near our town. We have helped her review the rules. She will make it, we are sure.

Pancakes

It is Thursday, which is Pancake Day in Sweden. We do not get pancakes every Thursday, unfortunately. Daniel says one of the reasons is that pancakes are mostly lunch food and we seldom eat lunch together. This Thursday, we got pancakes for dinner. All of us dogs got a lot of it. Pepe and I really enjoyed it, while Morran was less fond of it. Even she agreed it was a treat, however. Thursdays can be very good. 

Origins of Columbus

Christopher Columbus was the man who led the first Spanish expedition to the lands now known as the Americas. There has always been disputes of his origin, as this is not quite known and people of many places want his fame to spill off on them. New DNA studies have now shown that he was of Spanish and Jewish origin. 

While this is interesting, we would also like to know if Columbus had any dogs, and if he had any, of what breeds these dogs were. This would tell us a lot about him, we believe. 

Frost and Fire

We had frost outdoors this morning. Daniel lit a fire in the fire place in the living room.

It is nice to have a fire to add to the indoor heat, when it is colder than usual outdoors.

I believe I have written about this before, but dogs are well off, having humans to control fire for us. 

Shrimp Sandwich

It was the Shrimp Sandwich Day today. Paula, Daniel, Totte, and the three of us dogs shared a shrimp sandwich.

Shrimps are tasty. I wish we could get shrimps more often. Totte, Morran, and Pepe agreed with me. Daniel was more undecided, however. I guess we will have to see if our wish makes him change his mind further on. 

Coming Home

Daniel was away this weekend. He came home this afternoon. This is great, because Paula has been rather boring all weekend. She has not been feeling well, so she has an excuse, but it is still better when Daniel is also at home. We hope next weekend will be better. 

Dog Without Family

The South east of the USA has been struck by a tornado. This is common in the autumn. Some humans have died. We are especially sorry to hear about the dog Benji, who survived, while his humans died. We hope he will get a new family soon. 

Rain in the Morning

It rained in the morning. This meant we just went out in the garden for a while, but there was no need for a morning walk. It is good that the weather may play a role in decisions like this one on the morning walk.